Editing Harriet the Spy (section)

== Reception ==
The book appeared on a 1964 list of "The Year's Best Juveniles" in ''[[The New York Times Book Review]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=December 6, 1964 |title=The Year's Best Juveniles |page=52 |work=The New York Times Book Review}}</ref>  One 1965 reviewer called the book "a brilliantly written, unsparing realistic story, a superb portrait of an extraordinary child".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Goodwin |first=Polly |date=January 24, 1965 |title=The Junior Bookshelf |page=B7 |work=Chicago Tribune}}</ref> Another reviewer found that it "captures the feelings, thoughts and situations of a modern city child with remarkable clarity and dimension".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Taylor |first=Mark |date=February 21, 1965 |title=An Excellent Trio for Children |page=B7 |work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> Nevertheless, at least one reviewer in 1965 felt that the book dealt with "disagreeable people and situations".<ref name="Helson1976">{{Cite journal |last=Helson |first=Ravenna |year=1976 |title=Change, Tradition, and Critical Styles in the Contemporary World of Children's Books |journal=Children's Literature |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=22–39 |doi=10.1353/chl.0.0757}}</ref>  Although it was not chosen as one of the [[ALA Notable lists|American Library Association (ALA) Notable Books for Children]] for 1964, years later it was included in a retrospective 1960–1964 ALA Notable Books List.<ref name=Elleman/>

It won a [[Sequoyah Book Award]] in 1967.<ref>{{Cite web |last=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Children's Sequoyah Winners |url=http://okla.affiniscape.com/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=215 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140506061946/http://okla.affiniscape.com/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=215 |archive-date=May 6, 2014 |access-date=March 16, 2013 |publisher=Oklahoma Library Association}}</ref>  The paperback version was selected as one of the "Best in the Field" published during the previous 16 months in a 1968 ''New York Times'' article.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Woods |first1=George |last2=O'Connor |first2=Margaret F. |date=February 25, 1968 |title=Best in the Field: For Children |at=Section 7, Part 2, pages 18 & 20 |work=New York Times Book Review: Paperbacks}}</ref> In 1995, [[Paramount Pictures]] and [[Nickelodeon Movies]] claimed that 2.5 million copies of the book had been sold;<ref>{{Cite web |last=Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies |date=December 8, 1995 |title=Michelle Trachtenberg is Harriet; Rosie O'Donnell Her Mentor in the Action-Comedy "Harriet The Spy" (press release) |url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/MICHELLE+TRACHTENBERG+IS+HARRIET%3B+ROSIE+O'DONNELL+HER+MENTOR+IN+THE...-a017836770 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705165029/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/MICHELLE+TRACHTENBERG+IS+HARRIET%3B+ROSIE+O%27DONNELL+HER+MENTOR+IN+THE...-a017836770 |archive-date=July 5, 2015 |access-date=March 22, 2013 |publisher=PR Newswire Association LLC}}</ref> however, the book did not appear on a 2001 ''[[Publishers Weekly]]'' list of "hardcovers that have sold 750,000 copies and paperbacks that have topped the one million copy mark."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=December 17, 2001 |editor-last=Roback |editor-first=Diane |editor2-last=Britton |editor2-first=Jason |title=All-Time Bestselling Children's Books |url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20011217/28595-all-time-bestselling-children-s-books.html |journal=[[Publishers Weekly]] |volume=248 |issue=51 |access-date=March 22, 2013}}</ref>

[[Whitney Matheson]] wrote on the ''[[USA Today]]'' site in 2002 that Harriet "attracts dedicated, lifelong supporters".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Matheson, Whitney |date=June 27, 2002 |title=Still Spying After All These Years |work=USA Today |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/columnist/candy/2002/2002-06-26-candy.htm |access-date=March 22, 2013}}</ref>  [[Anita Silvey]] in 2004 selected it as one of the 100 best books for children.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Silvey |first=Anita |url=https://archive.org/details/100bestbooksforc00silv |title=100 Best Books for Children |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |year=2004 |isbn=0618278893 |location=Boston}}</ref> In 2005, the ex-[[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] officer [[Lindsay Moran]] cited the ''Harriet the Spy'' series of books as an inspiration for her career.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ensor |first=David |date=January 12, 2005 |title=Moran: 'It's a dirty business' |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/01/11/spy.life/ |access-date=March 16, 2013 |publisher=CNN}}</ref> It was included in a 2009 list of "Children’s Classics" by ''[[The Horn Book Magazine]]''.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Burns |first=Mary M. |year=2009 |title=Children's Classics: A Booklist for Parents |url=http://archive.hbook.com/pdf/childrensclassics.pdf |url-status=dead |magazine=The Horn Book |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120524173352/http://archive.hbook.com/pdf/childrensclassics.pdf |archive-date=May 24, 2012 |access-date=March 20, 2013}}</ref>

In 2012, ''Harriet the Spy'' was ranked number 17 among all-time children's novels in a survey published by ''[[School Library Journal]]''.<ref name="slj">{{Cite web |last=Bird, Elizabeth |date=June 12, 2012 |title=Top 100 Children's Novels #17: Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh |url=http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/06/12/top-100-childrens-novels-17-harriet-the-spy-by-louise-fitzhugh/ |access-date=March 16, 2013 |publisher=[[School Library Journal]] "A Fuse #8 Production" blog}}</ref> Earlier that year, ''[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out New York Kids]]'' ranked it number 12 among the "50 Best Books for Kids".<ref name="timeout">{{Cite news |last=Bird, Elizabeth |date=March 1, 2012 |title=The 50 Best Books for Kids |work=Time Out New York Kids (timeout.com) |url=http://www.timeout.com/new-york-kids/things-to-do/the-50-best-books-for-kids?pageNumber=2 |access-date=March 22, 2013}}</ref> Late in 2015, the same source ranked it number 34 in the "73 best kids' books of all time for families".<ref name="timeout2015">Bird, Elizabeth, and the editors (September 15, 2015). [http://www.timeout.com/new-york-kids/things-to-do/best-kids-books#tab_panel_4 "The 73 best kids' books of all time for families"] [40 to 37]. ''Time Out New York Kids'' (timeout.com). Retrieved October 27, 2015.</ref>

Despite its popularity, the book has been banned from some schools and libraries "because it was said to set a bad example for children".<ref name=Grant/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Brunner |first=Borgna |year=2007 |title=Banned Books From Harriet the Spy to The Catcher in the Rye |url=http://www.infoplease.com/spot/banned-kids-books.html |access-date=March 23, 2013 |website=Information Please |publisher=Pearson Education}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Driscoll |first1=Molly |last2=O'Carroll |first2=Eoin |title=30 Banned Books That May Surprise You: 1. 'Harriet the Spy,' by Louise Fitzhugh |work=Christian Science Monitor |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/2012/1003/30-banned-books-that-may-surprise-you/Harriet-the-Spy-by-Louise-Fitzhugh |access-date=March 16, 2013}}</ref> Along with ''[[Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.|Are You There God?]]'', ''[[Blubber (novel)|Blubber]]'', and ''[[Where the Sidewalk Ends (book)|Where the Sidewalk Ends]]'', the book was challenged at a 1983 school-board meeting in [[Xenia, Ohio]].<ref name="Denger">{{Cite news |last=Denger, Laurie |date=October 25, 1993 |title=Issues in Xenia Schools Boiling for Decade |work=Dayton Daily News}}</ref>  Proponents of the Xenia ban stated that the book "teaches children to lie, spy, back-talk, and curse", but the board voted to keep the books in the school libraries.<ref name=Denger/><ref>{{Cite news |last=Eichhorn-Hicks, Meghara |date=March 5, 2009 |title=Banning Books: Keeping Our Children Safe from the Perils of Free Thinking |work=Minneapolis Examiner}}</ref>